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The old coalrange.
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DescriptionNearly everyone had a coal range when I was growing up in Blaketown. Because Dad was a coalminer, he got a free ton of coal delivered twice a year. Mum did all the cooking on the coalrange. Roasts and bread and scones done in the oven have a taste that cannot be replicated in an electric or gas oven.Map[1] ContributorHeather Newby
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Location (city or town)GreymouthEventThe old coalrange.
Category Information
Category TagCoal Mining
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LinkCoalrangeCommentsBrian McIntyre I love that photo. I can feel the heat off it. So many memories of my childhood and made the best toast too
Christine Farrell Same I had one in Cobden had it going day and night to heat house and water. Great
Jan Ward Remember the incinerator in our kitchen. Mum painted it with silver paint.it was Fed with the free coal from Strongman. Ours went 24/7 365 days a year as it had a wet back & was the only way we got hot water. The kettle was always on at ours.
Linzi Woods Never felt cold, Always had hot water and kettle was always ready. I need one of these back !!!
Jakh Heremia The one memory I will always hold dear - our house was ALWAYS warm heart emoticon
Barbara Fitzsimmons Image this today far better than heat pumps gas fires .we were never.cold remember mum painting it silver how many cups of tea did they need .that or a flagon of beer and those art.union.tickets stuck around the walls.what the hell went with what.lol
Nancye Mahuika Great memories,yes we were always warm and water always hot, sometimes to hot.
Johannes Debreuk Yup back in the day top of the hill in Nelson creek . We were never cold.
Lorraine Phillips I would love one of these now. Baked the best bread and fruit cakes in these.
Vicki Piner When the water got too hot and it was going to run off the roof, that was the time to have a hot deep bath
Barbara Fitzsimmons Yeah .shared .I got to have the first one then the 5 brothers. Lol I must of been the favorite Yeah right all good.
Joan Hanna The only way to cook the Sunday roast!!!!
Barbara Fitzsimmons Was it cleaned with a long .flu brush .down the side black sout
Wendy Clark Living was really living with a coal range. Washing hoisted high, winter pot of soup always hot. Smells of cooking, the room was the hub of the home. Kettle always on the go. Those were the days. Wish I had one now.
Paul South Roast beef please.
Raylene Black I still work by coal range only for all my heating and cooking, no microwave in sight , mines called a Homewood , a black cast iron beast with double oven and a HUGE fire box ... wouldnt have it any other way.
Alec Birch Back to when everyone had their ton of coal tipped off at the roadside.
Ruth Naylor Oh the cost of a ton of coal these days and wood isn't much better,especially when it is at our back door.
Clare Pierson Ours was green, backed onto the open fire in the lounge and had a wet back. Roast of one kind or another every Sunday!
Phil Norton Christchurch 1950s open fires ,,,.warm uninsulated houses,,,, smog ,,, 2015 cold damp houses heated by uncosy heatpumps ..clean air
Sonia Back I hate heat pumps old place had one and seemed to be forever cold now have a huge fire and loving it a different kind of heat it just feels different warmer somehow
Rowena Dunn Not only are the coal fires wonderful for cosy warmth, but also for burning rubbish. Now that we have a heat pump I can't believe the rubbish we put in the bin. We used to put out half a rubbish bag once a fortnight. Now we fill a wheelie bin a fortnight so it all adds to the landfill. I miss the fire.
Warren Parkin My daughter has a coal range in the house they own, up the grey valley, and they use it...
Brian McIntyre Love that photo. Just feel the heat
Brian McIntyre The regular burnt out and buckled fire grates
Helen Joan Forrest I can remember the pots of soups and stews slow cooking on the coal range. Heated house and heaps of hot water. When the water boiled out onto the roof someone would run a bath. All good memories.
Alan N Barb Cochrane ditto
Sandra Mctaggart ah yes cosy good for my nana roses chips n eggs wet back and nana would run off the hot water down the sink a few of tushys mackintoshes lollies a swig of Andrews liver salts and always a beer around there were Chinese gooseberries growing by the dunn…See More
Dorothy Wills I had a Gloworm stove and then a Rayburn when I married the Rayburn was by far the better stove never used coal in clogged it up too much but Manuka firewood burned very hot had a lid that could be pulled down over the top keep the top hot when not in use was fantastic
Dorothy Wills It had a wet back in it too with plenty of hot water available got a bit warm in the summer to use so had a little electrical ringette could use then power was run off a diesel lighting plant until the mainline power came through in 1968
Jennifer Griffin Dorothy Wills I did some baking in one of these stoves in mauria best ginger crunch I ever made
Arthur Bass Jennifer Griffin best everything cooked on in a coal range.
Jennifer Griffin Arthur Bass my mum was
Margaret Suggett So was my mum!!
Anne Honey My grandmother Amelia Heyward had a coal range in blackball lovely hot water and i learnt to knit beside Mrs Shaw coal range in Roa.
Terry Ellmers I remember going up to my Uncles in Blackball and he would cook oysters on a banjo shovel over the open fire.
· Brian McIntyre Makes the best toast ever
Paddy Wakefield Amen to that Brian toasters dry the bread out too much
Brian McIntyre Paddy Wakefield yep
Margaret Grant As a young bride i hated it dirty things they were.
Raewyn Louttit I had to clean it always
Clint Eves Were good for campoven bread in the oven because of the constant heat. Only problem we found, they were like heatpumps, Santa went straight past to the neighbours
Marion Maxwell Ahhh the Sunday roast lamb and the scones mmmm.. childhood memories
Linzi Woods Too true. They were awesome, never a cold house always hot water and roasts that are not the same these days...
Raelene Buchanan so true, there would be an empty spot where the coal had been. those were the days tho. we never locked our doors even when we went away for school holidays when I was a child .Like
Sandy Brears You can not compare, the food that came from a coal range had more flavour, My fav was the roast lamb and rice pud
Jeannie Sales Best fruit cake ever cooked in the cal range oven
Bob Laing I learned to cook cakes and biscuits in our coal range
However the advantages of electric ovens, are I am sorry to say, have it over coal ranges
Chris Burles Yep grandparents had one in westport. Great things.
Christine Farrell Same I had one in Cobden had it going day and night to heat house and water. Great
Jan Ward Remember the incinerator in our kitchen. Mum painted it with silver paint.it was Fed with the free coal from Strongman. Ours went 24/7 365 days a year as it had a wet back & was the only way we got hot water. The kettle was always on at ours.
Linzi Woods Never felt cold, Always had hot water and kettle was always ready. I need one of these back !!!
Jakh Heremia The one memory I will always hold dear - our house was ALWAYS warm heart emoticon
Barbara Fitzsimmons Image this today far better than heat pumps gas fires .we were never.cold remember mum painting it silver how many cups of tea did they need .that or a flagon of beer and those art.union.tickets stuck around the walls.what the hell went with what.lol
Nancye Mahuika Great memories,yes we were always warm and water always hot, sometimes to hot.
Johannes Debreuk Yup back in the day top of the hill in Nelson creek . We were never cold.
Lorraine Phillips I would love one of these now. Baked the best bread and fruit cakes in these.
Vicki Piner When the water got too hot and it was going to run off the roof, that was the time to have a hot deep bath
Barbara Fitzsimmons Yeah .shared .I got to have the first one then the 5 brothers. Lol I must of been the favorite Yeah right all good.
Joan Hanna The only way to cook the Sunday roast!!!!
Barbara Fitzsimmons Was it cleaned with a long .flu brush .down the side black sout
Wendy Clark Living was really living with a coal range. Washing hoisted high, winter pot of soup always hot. Smells of cooking, the room was the hub of the home. Kettle always on the go. Those were the days. Wish I had one now.
Paul South Roast beef please.
Raylene Black I still work by coal range only for all my heating and cooking, no microwave in sight , mines called a Homewood , a black cast iron beast with double oven and a HUGE fire box ... wouldnt have it any other way.
Alec Birch Back to when everyone had their ton of coal tipped off at the roadside.
Ruth Naylor Oh the cost of a ton of coal these days and wood isn't much better,especially when it is at our back door.
Clare Pierson Ours was green, backed onto the open fire in the lounge and had a wet back. Roast of one kind or another every Sunday!
Phil Norton Christchurch 1950s open fires ,,,.warm uninsulated houses,,,, smog ,,, 2015 cold damp houses heated by uncosy heatpumps ..clean air
Sonia Back I hate heat pumps old place had one and seemed to be forever cold now have a huge fire and loving it a different kind of heat it just feels different warmer somehow
Rowena Dunn Not only are the coal fires wonderful for cosy warmth, but also for burning rubbish. Now that we have a heat pump I can't believe the rubbish we put in the bin. We used to put out half a rubbish bag once a fortnight. Now we fill a wheelie bin a fortnight so it all adds to the landfill. I miss the fire.
Warren Parkin My daughter has a coal range in the house they own, up the grey valley, and they use it...
Brian McIntyre Love that photo. Just feel the heat
Brian McIntyre The regular burnt out and buckled fire grates
Helen Joan Forrest I can remember the pots of soups and stews slow cooking on the coal range. Heated house and heaps of hot water. When the water boiled out onto the roof someone would run a bath. All good memories.
Alan N Barb Cochrane ditto
Sandra Mctaggart ah yes cosy good for my nana roses chips n eggs wet back and nana would run off the hot water down the sink a few of tushys mackintoshes lollies a swig of Andrews liver salts and always a beer around there were Chinese gooseberries growing by the dunn…See More
Dorothy Wills I had a Gloworm stove and then a Rayburn when I married the Rayburn was by far the better stove never used coal in clogged it up too much but Manuka firewood burned very hot had a lid that could be pulled down over the top keep the top hot when not in use was fantastic
Dorothy Wills It had a wet back in it too with plenty of hot water available got a bit warm in the summer to use so had a little electrical ringette could use then power was run off a diesel lighting plant until the mainline power came through in 1968
Jennifer Griffin Dorothy Wills I did some baking in one of these stoves in mauria best ginger crunch I ever made
Arthur Bass Jennifer Griffin best everything cooked on in a coal range.
Jennifer Griffin Arthur Bass my mum was
Margaret Suggett So was my mum!!
Anne Honey My grandmother Amelia Heyward had a coal range in blackball lovely hot water and i learnt to knit beside Mrs Shaw coal range in Roa.
Terry Ellmers I remember going up to my Uncles in Blackball and he would cook oysters on a banjo shovel over the open fire.
· Brian McIntyre Makes the best toast ever
Paddy Wakefield Amen to that Brian toasters dry the bread out too much
Brian McIntyre Paddy Wakefield yep
Margaret Grant As a young bride i hated it dirty things they were.
Raewyn Louttit I had to clean it always
Clint Eves Were good for campoven bread in the oven because of the constant heat. Only problem we found, they were like heatpumps, Santa went straight past to the neighbours
Marion Maxwell Ahhh the Sunday roast lamb and the scones mmmm.. childhood memories
Linzi Woods Too true. They were awesome, never a cold house always hot water and roasts that are not the same these days...
Raelene Buchanan so true, there would be an empty spot where the coal had been. those were the days tho. we never locked our doors even when we went away for school holidays when I was a child .Like
Sandy Brears You can not compare, the food that came from a coal range had more flavour, My fav was the roast lamb and rice pud
Jeannie Sales Best fruit cake ever cooked in the cal range oven
Bob Laing I learned to cook cakes and biscuits in our coal range
However the advantages of electric ovens, are I am sorry to say, have it over coal ranges
Chris Burles Yep grandparents had one in westport. Great things.
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West Coast New Zealand History (17th Nov 2019). The old coalrange.. In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 10th Apr 2026 06:42, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/11907